Suggestions For Farmers Market Necessities
farmsteward
17 years ago
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windfarm
17 years agolast modified: 9 years agokydaylilylady
17 years agolast modified: 9 years agoRelated Discussions
Does anyone farmers' market?
Comments (6)Thank you for your help, FataMorgana and nancyanne. Our state does allow canned goods from domestic kitchens for one-time charity sales (http://support.tennesseeanytime.org/node/1678) so I knew that would be OK. I understand and share your concern about helping local people, since in the past academic year I organized our city-wide "Alternative Christmas" fair with local chapter of Habitat for Humanity, our local food pantry, the county battered women's shelter, our local children's museum, the "halfway house" for non-violent ex-prisoners, and other non-profits. We also had a sewing class where we made new clothes for toddlers at the women's shelter. However, my brother went to Haiti in March to help with ongoing medical needs and he was touched by the courage of the Haitians coping with the aftermath of their cataclysmic losses. He saw not one but two adult men wearing donated blue Cub Scout uniform shirts--adult men so thin they could wear kids' clothing. (My boys are both in Cubs now so that was a sobering thought for them.) I know the $40 we raised at the market on Saturday won't do very much to help with the rebuilding effort, but I'm hoping that combined with many other small gifts from people who give not only locally but also globally, our gift will go towards building hurricane-proof transitional housing for people who have been through unimaginable loss already. I'm reading a book called "Give a Little: How Your Small Donations Can Transform Our World" by Wendy Smith. It's a really great book to help us from getting overwhelmed by the enormity of need and the finite amount of money we have to share. :-) Here is a link that might be useful: Smith book at Amazon...See Moreselling dahlias at farmers' markets
Comments (3)Hi there, We joined our local farmers' market last summer and had a very good year; we'll be doing it again this year. Part of what we sold were cut flowers - our 'signature' became sweet peas, but we also had a wonderful cutting season for dahlias and other garden flowers. I don't have a lot of experience but can tell you what ours was! Fillers: yes I did little bouquets of dahlias with other garden cuttings which varied according to whatever was blooming at the time: lavender, perennial gypsophilia, shasta daisies, buddleia blooms, lilies, dwarf sunflowers, cosmos, snapdragons. Per bunch I included one dinner plate dahlia with regulars and pom poms. I found colours that are 'grouped' sold better than randomly mixing them (for example all pinks, all yellows, etc.) My specialty wasn't dahlias, it was sweet peas so I'll tell you about that too: Ten stems for $2.50 and they sold out very quickly. 7 stems (broken down to 4 stems dahlias & 3 fillers) for $5.00. You could double the number and the price. My rule of thumb was to price them more competitively than can be found in a florist shop with the advantage of home-grown varieties. Other vendors: I think not too many dahlias are home-grown well enough to sell! so good for you for taking this on! Yes, 4 - 6 days is my experience. All I add to the water is plain white sugar. About 1/4 cup sugar to 3 cups water and change it daily/every other day. It really does make a difference. I have no experience selling tubers! Give it a try! I would think if you had the actual cut blooms beside their 'mother' tuber that would help a lot. The dinner plates were the favourites; also I have a purple/white striped bloom (sorry I don't know the variety because a neighbour gave me about three dozen of them and they were gorgeous). See above for combinations with other garden flowers/fillers. For greenery (which I didn't count as a "stem") I used cosmos stems (without the blooms) which are feathery and hardy; also we have a lot of sword ferns where I live that are free for the cutting and three per bunch filled it nicely. Additional suggestions: 1 - Get yourself a florist-size roll of clear cellophane and a hank or two of raffia. The time it takes to wrap each bunch and tie it with a raffia bow makes all the difference to just selling bunches of flowers and offering a 'presentation' bouquet. Tie the raffia right under the lowest leaf and leave enough stems to present in a bucket of water (see 2). In addition to protecting the blooms from getting bumped or broken, the cellophane wrap provides more of a 'presentation' bouquet. 2 - I found some coloured metal buckets (at Michaels) that were great containers (the kind that are tall, can also be used as wine coolers). Galvanized buckets work well too. Massed flowers always have more appeal and when you've pre-tied them in bunches it's easy to pull one (or more) for easy sale. 3 - I printed up a price tag and stapled it to the top a stick which I just stuck into the midst of the flowers (stick was longer than the tallest bouquet so it was easily visible). Shoppers like to see the price instead of having to ask and you may be too busy!...See MoreLiability insurance for selling at farmers markets
Comments (26)Yeah, idiot guy. They offered me a $1 million liability just for the market stand for about $300 per year. They did not offer product liability and he should have just said so off the bat. then he was just going to sign me up before he gave me the details. I asked what it covered for $300 and that was when I found out it was just the stand. So $25 per month year round when I only sell from mid May to mid October and it just covered accidents at market! I don't make enough to use that. He did give me the number of a guy who is an independent insurance man that works with various policies. I am going to call him now....See MoreSelling bread at farmers' market....your opinions?
Comments (45)Good luck to you, Judy! Starting small is a good way to start until you can see what amount of traffic your market has. I plan to make some orange sweet rolls for Saturday, put them in small sandwich bags, display them in a napkin lined basket and hope they sell out immediately! LOL! I'm probably not going to go with the name Bungalow Breads, the main reason being that I may not stay in this house. For right now I'm not posting a name on my sign, just introducing myself by my name when people ask. I will want to perfect my Parker House roll recipe. People in the South love Parker House rolls! It's the roll of choice for every holiday and special occasion meal. But I don't know how many cooks still make them. Teresa...See Moretrianglejohn
17 years agolast modified: 9 years agorandy41_1
17 years agolast modified: 9 years agoDibbit
17 years agolast modified: 9 years agoPonderGuy
17 years agolast modified: 9 years agoloodean
17 years agolast modified: 9 years agofarmsteward
17 years agolast modified: 9 years agosandy0225
17 years agolast modified: 9 years agosackofmommy
17 years agolast modified: 9 years agogarliclady
17 years agolast modified: 9 years agodeansfba
17 years agolast modified: 9 years agoskagit_goat_man_
17 years agolast modified: 9 years agoiloveroosters
17 years agolast modified: 9 years agotbronson
17 years agolast modified: 9 years agoskagit_goat_man_
17 years agolast modified: 9 years agoElwell's Supplies
8 years agoBarrie, (Central PA, zone 6a)
8 years ago
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